11 November 2009

Meet Carl Scully - Mr Headwind

That's Carl Scully on the right.

We know all too well what we're up against in the battle to mainstream urban cycling. There are all manner of obstacles, not least individuals, who act as a stiff headwind on the road to Bicycle Culture 2.0.

Let me introduce you to Mr Headwind, Carl Scully. Former minister for roads in New South Wales, Australia.

He begins by stating: "I have always respected cycling as a healthy means of exercising and socialising with others. In fact in my earlier years, I too, enjoyed cycling as a way of relaxing and exercising."

Right there, we see where we're going. The bicycle isn't transport for this man. It's a plaything. In a way, this is all we need to know about him and his antiquated views about infrastructure and facilities.

He thinks catering to 'cyclists' is catering to hobby cyclists in clubs and people who fancy a ride on the weekend. He hasn't realised that the bicycle is also meant for transporting large segments of the population to and from work and on short trips around their city or town. He hasn't dropped the ball, he didn't even bother picking it up. He prefers to ignore the bull.

He claims to have invested in off-road infrastructure and then doesn't understand why cyclists aren't using it.

Maybe because the infrastructure doesn't go where people want to go. Maybe it's badly designed, unhandy and incomplete.

You should read the whole piece, but here's an indication of what else Mr Headwind 'thinks':

"...they [cyclists] should consider not only how unsafe it is to be sharing the roadway with vehicles, but also acknowledge that it is motorists who pay fuel levies, tolls, registration and licence fees, as well as the huge cost of buying and running a motor vehicle. Apart from a negligible amount of GST on their equipment, cyclists pay nothing towards the cost of the roads they wish to use and rely on motorists to fund most of the cost of cycling infrastructure.Being more aware of this may make more cyclists a little more sensitive to the needs of the motoring public".

It was a crying shame that Carl didn't ride on New South Wales roads more often when he said.I've had cars cross from one side of the road to my side and open their door on me, full beer cans thrown at me,rammed from behind by a Kombi van and numerous thing thrown at me , including abuse.Bicycle paths ! only Canberra and Brisbane have anything of note and that is improving only gradually.

Awhh! Poor motorists. They have to pay so much for their vehicles... and even have to licence them. The Car Man's burden?

Where to start? Why should we care how much somebody has to pay for their means of transportation? That's their choice... or not because car culture makes it hard not to drive. Ditto on car susidization. Car drivers are allowed to externalize many of the real costs of driving.

"Apart from a negligible amount of GST on their equipment, cyclists pay nothing towards the cost of the roads they wish to use and rely on motorists to fund most of the cost of cycling infrastructure."

I love this line of "reasoning" because it presupposes cyclists need a 40ft wide strip of asphalt engineered for six-ton loads at no greater than 7% grade. I'd do just fine without, thanks.

If the alternative to “bicycles should pay road taxes” is “let’s not have any roads,” well Option Number Two works just fine for me.

Carl Scully should be sacked. If a transport minister doesn't understand transport issues he has no business being in the role.

It is about time in NSW as well as other states (and NZ is a state) that separate ministries of bicycling were established, separate from the road building mental cases in the Departments of Transport.

The bicycle isn't transport for this man. It's a plaything.------That's generally the attitude we face here in Canada also. I've heard it time and time again in the USA and even on occasion in the UK.Must be something wrong with the English speaking world when it comes to commuting by bike.

I dip my head in shame at the attitude of this man. Lucky he is the FORMER roads minister, maybe someone should take him on that M7 ride, how about Russell Crow? He is a known fan of cycling, might teach him a thing or too.

Kilometres cycled by Copenhageners so far today

Copenhagenize.com is the blog of Copenhagenize Design Company. Online since 2007 and highlighting the cycling life in Copenhagen and around the world.

40 years ago Copenhagen was just as car-clogged as anywhere else but now 41% of the population arriving at work or education do so on bicycles, from all over the Metro area. 55% of Copenhageners themselves use bicycles each day. They all use over 1000 km of bicycle lanes in Greater Copenhagen for their journeys. Copenhagenizing is possible anywhere.